SewerOwner

Connection repair

Work at the point where the private line meets the public system.

This is the part of a sewer job where a phone call is most likely to be worth more than a second quote.

What this page cannot establish

  • SewerOwner cannot establish whether connection repair is appropriate for your property
  • this approach cannot establish who is responsible for the connection in your jurisdiction
  • this approach cannot establish that the authority will agree with a contractor’s view
  • this approach cannot establish the condition of the public system

What it attempts to do

Address a condition at or near the connection between the private line and the public system.

When contractors may discuss it

These are circumstances in which the approach comes up, not a checklist that makes it correct. There is no situation in which one method is universally right.

  • when a condition has been identified at or near the connection
  • where the connection has been observed rather than assumed

What has to be known before applicability can be judged

If a proposal for this work is priced without these, it is priced against assumptions. That is not necessarily wrong — but the assumptions should be written down.

  • what the operating authority says about responsibility at the connection
  • whether the connection has been observed
  • the depth and location, and what sits above it
  • whether the work falls in a public right of way

Access and site considerations

  • frequently the deepest point of the line
  • may fall within a right of way or easement, changing who must authorise the work
  • may require coordination with the operating authority
  • surface restoration in a right of way may follow a different standard

What to clarify in a proposal for this work

These are the details that most often differ between two proposals for what sounds like the same job.

  • whether the operating authority has been contacted and what it said
  • who is responsible for this section, as the authority describes it
  • what permits and coordination are included
  • restoration standard in any right of way
  • what happens if the authority takes a different view of responsibility

What to keep afterwards

  • any written statement from the operating authority
  • photographs before backfill
  • the permit and closeout record

Alternatives worth asking about

Asking why one approach is proposed rather than another is a reasonable question, and the answer tells you what the contractor believes about your line.

Traditional excavation

Digging along the line to expose and replace pipe directly.

Expose the line so that pipe can be removed and replaced, and so that what is uncovered can be observed directly.

Cannot establish: the condition of any section outside the excavation; that no further conditions exist elsewhere; that the new installation will perform for any stated period.

Spot repair

Repairing a defined length of the line rather than the whole run.

Address a condition at one identified location, leaving the remainder of the line as it is.

Cannot establish: the condition of the rest of the line; that no further work will be needed; that the identified condition was the cause of a symptom.

What would change the answer

  • what the operating authority says about responsibility at the connection
  • whether the connection has been observed
  • the depth and location, and what sits above it
  • whether the work falls in a public right of way

What to do next

Commissioning work at the connection before establishing who is responsible for it is how homeowners pay for work they may not have owed.

Establish what the authority says about responsibility first

If your situation is different

Related, and why